Road Trip Spain

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davejmobile

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Wish to travel to spain in august can any one help with what ferry to use from the uk
or is it far cheaper to drive only have three weeks and 8 metre motorhome
thank you in advance
 
Its a question I have asked myself many times. We too have a van in excess of 8 mtrs, and in August the ferry prices to Bilbao/Santander are a ripoff. We always end up using the ferries or chunnel and using the drive down as part of the holiday. Eastern France is a beautiful run down into the Costa brava part of Spain.
Phil
 
I live just outside Plymouth so we go to Santander with Brittany Ferries, but even with the BF Club discount of 30% it is still very expensive. If you can get to the channel ports and take the short ferry crossings or the tunnel then stay in aires through France on the way to Spain that will be cheaper unless you have a monster gas-guzzler. You can but do the sums yourself based on your mpg.

But for us, we choose the long ferry and treat it as a mini-cruise and part of the holiday. You can't take it with you.

If you take a short crossing you are going to be doing a lot of driving every day if your aim is to reach Spain quickly. If I was taking that route I would go slowly through France and treat that as part of the holiday - but it would mean much less time in Spain.

You pays your money and all that.
 
Must agree with the above its about what suits you best , personally I would preference the drive option , even from Scotland . I bought my MH to enjoy my surroundings and experience new things not to rush up and down motorways , if you only have three weeks is it any real hardship to spend extra time travelling through France . Whatever you choose , enjoy it .
 
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We only ever have 3 weeks holiday and won't even consider Spain for such a long drive. We haven't got any further than Bordeaux in a 3 week holiday! We're leaving Spain until we can spend far longer away than we can at the moment.

Denise

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We drive every time.. The big ferry prices are just too much.. It takes us 3.5 days to get from Norfolk to the very southern tip of Spain..
And remember, that time on the road is all part of the whole deal.. New sights, new sounds, new experiences etc.
We bought the MH to travel in it.. If we had wanted to travel mainly on water we would have bought a boat ! LOL !! :D
We have met and kept in touch with SOOOOO many folk whilst on the road it is amazing !
 
We are off to Italy in July, and for the very first time we will not be using the Santander ferry. Not because of the price, but because the cabins we wanted were fully booked. We are crossing at Dover, and then meandering through Europe.
I agree the ferry is mahoosively expensive, but we rationalise the cost as being part of our holiday, the boats are really good, and there is loads to do for the little one, and I can stock up on Whiskey whilst on route :D In fact, our little girl is very disappointed that we aren't going on it this year!
 
Whereabouts in Spain are you thinking of visiting ?

Bearing in mind that Bilbao/Santander to the Med is probably a day or twos driving, add day's ferry crossing, that's at least four days of your 21 gone already....

It is possible to do Calais to Barcelona in two days, another day on top if you really want to push south - that's not enjoying the Country, that's 70mph on the autoroute all the way.

We often do the French Med in August, average duration, 16 nights, It does mean plenty of driving, not sure if we'd gain much by heading into Spain.

Food/booze/site fees might be slightly cheaper in Spain but soon offset by the extra time and fuel getting there...
 
August in a motorhome in Spain, have you got Aircon in the van living area? We live in Spain but like many others Not in July and August. Can be a tad warmish!! You should be here this week, its only 33c daily average, but in the evening and through the night it a cool 13c, not the case during August.
 
My compromise is to drive down through France, stocking up with wine on the way, and return via Santander laden with French and Spanish wine (y)

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Think I am starting to agree best part 600 pound one way that buys a lot of diesel don't mind the heat but really don't like being ripped off .
Any ideas on the best route to Italy instead avoiding tolls
 
We used the tunnel for the first time in Feb & May this year, because there was very little difference between the ferries and the euro tunnel, I can tell you now I will not be going back on the ferries, it was quick and easy and on the way home I got to the terminal three hours before the time to cross no problem got my ticket from the self serve machine at the gate and we where waved straight around to the loading platform after passport control and gas bottle check and drove on to the train literally 40 minutes after loading we where turning on to the M20.

When I have dune this in the past with all the ferry companies there is always a cost it used to be £10 but now its £60.


As for the drive to Spain easy, I used to do it in two days to Benidorm when I was working now I’m retired I take three to four days depending on how I fell and there are so many free stops to use along the way too.

The Dover route is the cheapest even if you use some toll roads but it all boils do to whether or not you like driving.

I have routes with safe stops if it will help you.

PS, I was paying less that a pound a litre for fuel my total cost of fuel was £409.32 from Dover to Spain and back covering 2786 miles, just to give you an idea of costs.


Regards

Ray
 
yes Ray enjoy driving don't like paying on toll roads unless I have to like to see the little towns and villages its costing 417 pound just to get of the isle of man
so will be using the tunnel I think to get to france .
so may still try a drive down to Benidorm depending on weather so any advise most welcome
best regards
Dave
 
Need to know where in Spain you are aiming for.

As above, it is a long way. We would either drive fast to get to South and have 2 weeks holiday there and a slog back or gentle down, explore some of the North / East and gentle back.
 
Need advise on this Must see places for first timers have been down as far as montpelier ?

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davejmobile said:
Need advise on this Must see places for first timers have been down as far as montpelier ?
Click to expand...
What do you like? Spain has amazing scenery, museums, food and wine and historic buildings in addition to the beaches.
 
food is good enjoy cycling gardens beaches wine i don't drink neither does the wife
 
I would suggest the north of Spain and the Pyrenees in August - there is a risk of thunderstorms but the cycling options are great and the weather will not be too hot to get out on your bikes.

There are loads of places to go to including Figures, Picos de Europa. If the weather is not predicted to be good for a few days in the mountains, you could go to Barcelona.
 
Thank you every body for you're help will do some digging round on google maps
 
Hi Dave
This is the route i take there are a few tolls i pay one is on the A16 Boulogne 2.40 euros get off at junction 28 and the other two to new tolls on the A63 at 5.60 each but well worth it, My first Stop is in Vivonne just south of Poitiers free next is Behobia on the border near Irun and my next stop is at Tavernes now an aire at 6 euros per night with free WIFI showers and plenty of water 60 mile from Benidorm.
Hope this help you, if you need a list with satnav coordinates send me your email address and i will get them off to you.

Calais – Boulonge – Abbeville – Rouen – Evreux – Chartres - Tours - Poitiers

Angouleme – Bordeaux - Bayonne - St Jean – Irun - Pamplona

Zaragoza – Sagunt – Valencia - Benidorm

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Hi Dave,
Can I please ask if you would be so kind as to send me these co-ordinates too.
Please use fleming1946@hotmail.co.uk
Thanking you in anticipation
Ian
 
davejmobile said:
Think I am starting to agree best part 600 pound one way that buys a lot of diesel don't mind the heat but really don't like being ripped off .
Any ideas on the best route to Italy instead avoiding tolls
Click to expand...

This is a regular run for us.. The only 'toll' you will have to pay is the Austrian vignet which is about 9 € for ten days ( so if like us you stay a while you will have to get one on the way back too )
If your in a largish motorhome I would suggest you cough up and use the Brenner pass .. If you are feeling adventurous and do not mind working hard at the stearing and gears one of the smaller passes ( maybe Fern ? )

here is a list of places we pass by:

Mons
Namur
Arlon
Karlsruhe
Ulm
Kempton
Innsbruck
Brenner

( parts of the A22 are tolled, but if you put No Tolls in your GPS as soon as you leave the Brenner pass there is a beautiful route that for the most part runs parallel to it )

Then drop down into the Trento area
Past Balzano
Past Trento
And then you are more or less on top of Garda :-)
 
Hi Dave
I have one for lake Garda if you are interested

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Last autumn we drove to southern Spain from home (NW) in five days:

1 Home - Canterbury aire
2 Dover ferry then Calais - Futuroscope aire
3 Futuroscope - Anglet aire
4 Anglet - Aranjuez campsite
5 Aranjuez - Granada campsite

It'll be bloody hot in August - it was roasting last Sept/Oct.
 
Wow. I am interested in your route South of Poitiers. Do you have detailes?
 
Flamenca - if your query was aimed at me, we just followed the fastest SatNav route from Futuroscope (Jaunay-Clan just north of Poitiers) to the Anglet aire on Boulevard des Plages and used toll roads.

From Anglet it took us on the motorway past Burgos, directly down Madrid's inner ring road (mad but quicker) to the only campsite in Aranjuez, and we still had time to visit the palace in the evening.

After that, by SatNav to the campsite at La Zubia which is just south of the Granada, with regular buses to the centre.
 
My suggestion is to use Dover Calais. Just prior to your departure look at the weather forecast. If it is nice on your drive through France then take your time and enjoy it. If, instead, it is wet and windy then make haste and get down to Benidorm.

Just as an aside we can do Southern Spain easily in a 3 week holiday. We take it oh so easy on the way down and have a wonderful time. BUT, once the nose is pointing north it's 700 miles per day. Don't know why, can't explain it. I wake up at 5 am, can't sleep, do 150 miles, back to bed for an hour and then off again. Judy sleeps through the whole experience and will make a nice cup of tea at about 10 am.

What's that you say.... make a cup of tea on the move... certainly not. (nervous cough).

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